The invention relates to a light source and a method for regenerating a light source with a heatable filament or an electrode, with the filament or the electrode being arranged in a bulb or in a tube.
Light sources of the type under discussion have been known from practice for a long time, and they exist in a great variety of designs and sizes. They are known in particular as electric incandescent lamps, electric halogen lamps, and electric discharge lamps in low-pressure or high-pressure designs, as well as electronic light-emitting diodes. The light sources are based on thermionic emission, collision excitation of gases, or a luminescence effect, for example, in luminescent tubes.
Disadvantageous in all these known light sources is that the filaments or electrodes which glow during their operation change to their disadvantage as operating time increases. The change can be chemical, such as, for example, a conversion or a poisoning because of a chemical reaction with chemical constituents of the atmosphere surrounding the filament or electrode. On the other hand, the change can be physical because of heat and temperature influences on the filament or the electrode, for example, an evaporation of the filament or electrode material, or a melting, or crystallization effects with subsequent rupture symptoms. All these changes are symptoms of aging, and they increasingly impair or even stop the operability or light generation of the known light sources or lamp types.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide both a light source of the initially described type and a method, which permit extending the service life of the light source with constructionally simple means.